There will be no constitution for years, says EU president

Europe will be without an EU constitution for up to three years, the president of the European commission declared yesterday. Amid criticism of Britain for running an "invisible" EU presidency, José Manuel Barroso warned European leaders not to use the demise of the constitution as an excuse for doing nothing.

"In all probability, at least for the next two or three years, we will not have a constitution," he said in his strongest warning to date that the measure will take a long time to replace. This "should not mean there is a paralysis in Europe. Let's get things done that ordinary people can see and appreciate. We should not focus our efforts exclusively on devising institutional scenarios".

His remarks, which followed a brain-storming session with EU commissioners on Tuesday, were aimed at leaders across Europe. Governments are officially observing a "period of reflection" on the constitution after French and Dutch voters rejected it in referendums.

Mr Barroso is hoping the French president, Jacques Chirac, will stop trying to undermine the commission's economic reforms. But he also wants Britain to redouble its efforts to agree a deal on the EU budget - an issue Downing Street has stalled on in the hope that Angela Merkel would have been well on her way to being Germany's chancellor by now.

"We need agreement by the end of the year, it's urgent," Mr Barroso insisted. "A further delay could involve enormous losses for those countries."

He said EU governments had to get over divisions between those, such as Britain, that stress free market economics and others, headed by France, that want more emphasis on social protection. Instead of that "sterile debate", the EU needed to find a balance that would allow its economy to confront global competition without ditching traditional social protection.

Critics of the British approach voiced unease in the French daily Le Figaro. One Brussels official was quoted as saying: "The British presidency, you don't see it, you don't feel it. It's very curious."